How are we working together?
The Ministry of Agriculture and Food is committed to working with the B.C. Indigenous Advisory Council on Agriculture and Food (IACAF), New Relationship Trust (NRT) and other Indigenous partners through multiple initiatives focused on strengthening Indigenous food systems. Working closely with Indigenous advisors and subject matter experts, and in partnership with Indigenous- led organizations, has enabled the ministry to invest in Indigenous-led program design and delivery to support Nation- and community-driven food-related projects taking place across the province. The IACAF provides a platform for the ministry to work with Indigenous food systems and agriculture leaders to address persistent barriers and support equitable participation in the food and agriculture sector.
In 2024/25, the IACAF and the ministry co-developed a second three-year strategic plan (2024-2027) that prioritizes working together to champion economic revitalization, investment and funding, address policy gaps impacting access to traditional foods, and promote awareness, education and engagement related to Indigenous food systems.
The ministry is working to action recommendations and advice from Indigenous partners through new and ongoing initiatives, including the First Peoples’ Food Sovereignty Table co-led with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). As part of Feed BC, the ministry continues to work closely with Indigenous subject matter experts to develop and widely disseminate learning resources and guidance for public institutions to support incorporating Indigenous foods into their food services in a good way.
Are there challenges?
Frustration, distrust and disengagement among Indigenous partners stemming from perceptions of insufficient government action to meaningfully acknowledge, understand and address the scope of colonization, resource appropriation, ongoing resource development, other impacts and regulatory barriers restricting Indigenous self-determination over their food systems remains a significant risk.
Without an all-of-government approach to Indigenous food systems, the First Peoples’ Food Sovereignty Table, in partnership with FNHA, was created to support collaborative work across areas of government and with Indigenous organizations. The interjurisdictional complexity and the Province’s evolving fiscal approach continue to challenge effective, timely action.
Indigenous partners and subject matter experts continue to identify adequate, long-term funding and investment in Indigenous food system revitalization and enhancement projects as a critical need. Annual funding cycles and uncertainty create risks to ongoing investments and the long-term success of Indigenous food systems projects. The Indigenous Food Security and Sovereignty Program is in its final year. Future funding has not been identified at this point in time.
The program’s first (2023/24) and second (2024/25) intakes were fully subscribed within days. The Indigenous Food Pathways Program faced similar high demand. The intense competition for funding highlights a significant obstacle to reconciliation, with Indigenous partners noting that it reinforces colonial racism and expends limited local resources. Increasing the use of Indigenous foods in institutions is limited by regulations related to commercial food safety requirements and wild-harvesting; lack of access and supply of traditional foods; and lack of food service decision maker support.
Highlights
The ministry has made significant investments in community-led, place-based projects across the Province. In November 2024, the Indigenous Food Pathways Program was introduced under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership to enhance food security, sovereignty, and Indigenous participation in B.C.’s agriculture and food sectors. Alongside it, the B.C. Indigenous Pathfinder Service was launched to connect Indigenous-led businesses and projects with relevant programs, services, and funding opportunities to strengthen food systems, sovereignty and security. The second intake of the $30 million Indigenous Food Security and Food Sovereignty Program was delivered in May 2024 by NRT. To date, 114 projects across Indigenous communities, urban centers, and First Nations territories have been supported. These projects focus on priorities like boosting local food processing, revitalizing food harvesting and processing practices, expanding production capacity, and growing commercial value-added enterprises. The final intake will open in May 2025.
Feed BC supported the Cooking in Two Worlds Gathering at the University of British Columbia, bringing together Indigenous leaders and chefs to share insights on integrating Indigenous foods into institutional food services through cultural respect, traditional culinary practices, and inclusive dining experiences. A new Cooking in Two Worlds resource was launched with case study stories of Indigenous foods in B.C. institutions. Nineteen leaders from health, post-secondary and correctional facilities participated in a learning cohort journey to improve their knowledge, skills and understanding to incorporate more Indigenous foods into their programs in a good way.
Previous years’ progress
Highlights
Indigenous Food Security and Food Sovereignty Program delivered by New Relationship Trust
In July 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food announced a $30 million program to be delivered by the New Relationship Trust (NRT) to support Indigenous Peoples to develop food sovereignty, food security and Indigenous-led agriculture initiatives. The first intake of the Indigenous food security and food sovereignty grant program was fully subscribed and closed early due to the high demand. Sixty-four new projects were approved and a total of $9.3 million committed in the program’s first year. Projects are diverse and include examples such as planning for the revitalization of food harvesting sites, scaling up of commercial value-added enterprises, investments in grocery stores within communities and increasing local food production capacity in many rural and remote First Nations communities.
This monumental investment in the Indigenous food security and food sovereignty fund sees the Ministry actioning key recommendations received through the work of the B.C. Indigenous Advisory Council on Agriculture and Food (IACAF), including to: 1) provide low-barrier, inclusive, flexible funding; 2) provide funding at a meaningful level; and 3) support Indigenous-led program delivery. As part of this program launch, 24 applications from Investment Agriculture Foundation’s 2022 over-subscribed Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnerships Program (IFSAP) were successfully transferred to the NRT and approved for funding totaling $1.4 million.
Cooking in Two Worlds
This groundbreaking guide for B.C.’s hospitals, post-secondary institutions, schools, and correctional facilities brings together culmination of wisdom from Elders and Knowledge Holders and insights from B.C. institutions on how to incorporate Indigenous foods and recipes in a good way. Cooking in Two Worlds recognizes the vast diversity of Indigenous communities and their respective food and cultural practices across British Columbia. It aims to inspire and empower institutions to embark on the necessary work of building relations with Indigenous communities and to deepen their understanding of cultural safety and humility as a foundation to do so. Cooking in Two Worlds is the first and only resource of its kind in the world. Since its launch in June 2023, the impact has been significant: over 750 copies have been shared, 400 individuals have engaged in webinars and presentations, and a cohort of 20 institution staff participated in a pilot learning series.
How are we working together?
The Ministry is prioritizing working directly with Indigenous advisors, facilitators, subject matter experts and enabling Indigenous-led program design and delivery. IACAF meets on a quarterly basis with the Ministry and through ad hoc sessions as needed to provide advice and guidance on the Ministry’s approach to Declaration Act implementation and to work together on IACAF strategic plan implementation. IACAF has both First Nations and Métis members. The new $30 million Indigenous Food Security and Food Sovereignty Program is delivered by the New Relationship Trust. Indigenous consultants have also been hired to facilitate IACAF meetings, develop resources to support the inclusion of traditional foods and Indigenous recipes in publicly funded institutions, and, in collaboration with preparing our home, undertake the design and facilitation of Indigenous engagement on the emergency preparedness for food security strategy.
Are there challenges?
The gaps between current realities and desired outcomes are often significant and can present challenges in identifying effective steps, sufficient resources, and in demonstrating timely progress towards achieving goals. For example, although many public institutions have expressed their openness and desire to source from Indigenous suppliers, there are relatively few Indigenous food and agriculture businesses relative to non-Indigenous businesses and fewer still that are at scale to match the requirements of public institutions. Another example is the challenge of effectively demonstrating tangible progress on all priority action areas within IACAF’s three-year strategic plan as the plan completed this fiscal. The new Indigenous food security and food sovereignty grant program is designed to provide more flexible funding in larger amounts for a wider range of eligible activities than any past provincial programs to support Indigenous food and agriculture. The goal is that over time, the broader, more responsive style of program design will meaningfully turn the dial and enable Indigenous agriculture and food enterprises to achieve their goals and objectives, including where desired, entry into economically profitable markets.
Highlights
Following two years of co-development with founding members and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAF), the BC Indigenous Advisory Council on Agriculture and Food (IACAF) was inaugurated in June 2021 and launched a 3-year strategic plan (2021-2024) to advance equitable participation of Indigenous Peoples in the food and agriculture sector and support the realization of their food security, food sovereignty and economic development objectives. The IACAF meets on a quarterly basis to dialogue with MAF on priorities and issues impacting Indigenous Peoples and to implement their strategic plan. Work undertaken by the IACAF in 2022/23 (Year 2 of the Strategic Plan) builds on research and information gathering projects sponsored by the IACAF in Year 1 and advances work in new areas. Highlights include the following: four meetings with MAF; advice and guidance on the creation and design of a $1.14 million pilot funding program to support Indigenous food systems; commissioning mapping and survey work on Indigenous food and agriculture initiatives in B.C.; hosting a gathering to support networking and strategic co-ordination among Indigenous-led organizations supporting Indigenous food and agriculture and MAF; and commissioning the first video in a planned series to profile and celebrate Indigenous food and agriculture. The IACAF’s advice on priorities and approaches to support Indigenous Peoples’ food systems has also informed MAF’s prioritization and design of substantial new Indigenous food systems programming to be launched in 2023/24.
The Indigenous Food Systems and Agriculture Partnership Program (IFSAP) was launched in Fall 2022 and resulted in $1.14 million of approved funding for 15 Indigenous food systems and agriculture projects. Program design incorporated recommendations from the IACAF to reduce barriers to access and increase the efficacy of funding through larger projects and board eligible activity criteria that included infrastructure costs, which previously were ineligible under other ministry funding programs. A $30 million contribution to New Relationship Trust to develop and implement a 3-year Indigenous food sovereignty funding program was confirmed at the end of fiscal year 2022/23. This funding program represents the largest single MAF investment in Indigenous food systems to date and will action a recommendation from the IACAF and other Indigenous partners to transition to Indigenous-led funding design and delivery.
Indicators
The IACAF and MAF have agreed on three process indicators as marks of progress.
- Number of meetings and engagements held: Four quarterly meetings (two virtual and two in-person) with council and ministry staff and senior executive have taken place, as well as three ad hoc meetings. Meetings have included sessions with Indigenous-led organizations, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada and other provincial ministries.
- Number of implementation projects underway: Three IACAF-sponsored projects have been completed in 2022/23 to advance strategic plan priorities, including a mapping and survey project of Indigenous food and agriculture initiatives, a video profiling the IACAF and a gathering of Indigenous-led organizations supporting Indigenous food systems.
- Recommendations actioned: Eight significant recommendations from the IACAF have been actioned in 2022/23 through new program design and delivery and three projects to advance strategic plan priorities. Most significantly, recommendations include increase funding to support Indigenous food systems, broadening eligible activities, prioritizing Indigenous-led service delivery and designing for low barrier access. Transversal to these recommendations and other advice that MAF is actioning, is to adopt a decolonizing approach to Indigenous food systems that reflects Indigenous Peoples’ food sovereignty, self-determined priorities, distinct approaches, the interconnected role of food in providing cultural, social, environmental and economic well-being and that rejects the deep, long standing colonial bias and racism reflected in definitions and approaches to agriculture.
How are we working together?
The IACAF meets on a quarterly basis with MAF to provide advice and guidance on the Minister’s approach to Declaration Act implementation and to work together on IACAF strategic plan implementation, primarily through projects related to IACAF’s priority action areas.
Are there challenges?
Risks include data deficiencies or underutilized processes of risk identification and management, adequate time, resourcing and capacity to engage, develop shared objectives, priorities and goals and adequately communicate and advance those objectives, priorities and goals within MAF and to other provincial and federal agencies and partners. IACAF and MAF co-ordination and project implementation continue to be advanced through regular meetings and project planning and execution.
Time and competing priorities of MAF and IACAF members and adequate, secure Secretariat and Indigenous organization and partner resourcing and capacity to action IACAF strategic plan implementation are other obstacles to progress on this goal. Additionally, current funding through the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation’s Indigenous Funding Program is not guaranteed year over year and is not confirmed until several months into the new fiscal year, which risk delays in planning and executing IACAF activities.